The Korean Cultural Center New York (KCCNY) presents the major exhibition "Lee Kang So: A Field of Becoming," on view from May 13 to June 20, 2026. The show features the work of pioneering Korean contemporary artist Lee Kang So (b. 1943), who since the 1970s has worked across photography, painting, sculpture, installation, and performance, resisting fixed forms to explore how art emerges through process, material, and context. The exhibition includes key works from his 1970s performances and installations, as well as later sculptures and paintings that foreground gravity, chance, and bodily gesture. Lee, who was active in New York in the 1980s and participated in MoMA PS1's Studio Artist Program, returns to the city with this exhibition at KCCNY's expanded venue.
This exhibition matters because it highlights a foundational yet often underrecognized figure in Korean contemporary art, whose process-oriented practice anticipated many concerns of global conceptual and post-minimalist art. By presenting Lee's work in New York—a city that shaped his artistic development—the show recontextualizes his legacy within an international dialogue. It also underscores KCCNY's role in bringing significant Korean artists to U.S. audiences, contributing to the growing visibility of Korean contemporary art on the world stage.